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StarLite 12.5-inch Linux tablet

us.starlabs.systems

111–120 of 347 posts

Re: StarLite 12.5-inch Linux tablet

#111

Why did they have to use a micro HDMI port? Couldn't they have done dual USB-C and made one the DisplayPort output? MicroHDMI is not a very nice connector, it's a lot of pins under mechanical stress from the heavy, rigid HDMI people generally attach to it.

From https://us.starlabs.systems/pages/starlite-specification>:

  Micro HDMI
  USB Type C 3.2 with Power Delivery 3.0
  USB Type C 3.2 with Power Delivery 3.0
  Micro SD Memory Card Reader
  3.5mm Headphone Jack
  HDMI version: 2.0
  USB-C Interface: Display Port (DP Alt Mode)
  USB version: 3.2 Gen 2 (up to 10 Gbps)
Maybe I am missing something, but it seems to have Display Port for their USB-C?

Re: StarLite 12.5-inch Linux tablet

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

USB-C DisplayPort altmode would have required one to two extra chips for the port supporting it and some extra routing on the PCB. So cost and complexity increase. MicroHDMI does suck, but despite that raspberry pi 4 has two of them.

The Pi also put a nasty old microUSB on the Pi Pico so I'm not surprised they used a crappy connector, when there's way less reason to still use MicroUSB. They're a great company but MicroUSB? Really?

At the time Pi Pico came out MicroUSB connectors were around ten times cheaper than USB-C. Now it has dropped to 2 - 4 times cheaper. In volume those differences do matter.

Re: StarLite 12.5-inch Linux tablet

#114

Why did they have to use a micro HDMI port? Couldn't they have done dual USB-C and made one the DisplayPort output? MicroHDMI is not a very nice connector, it's a lot of pins under mechanical stress from the heavy, rigid HDMI people generally attach to it.

DisplayPort has the huge advantage of being incredibly easy to passively convert into the ultra-legacy-weird-difficult HDMI, where-as the legacy-centric-pita-gross HDMI requires active absurd adapters to turn into DisplayPort. 100% more usb-c please, with alt modes. USB4 mandates every port be able to do DisplayPort output. I really hope we start to see phones and tablets which have >1 USB port. Lenovo has an absurd…

>I really hope we start to see phones and tablets which have >1 USB port

We're much more likely to get phones with 0 USB ports (justified by 'security', 'water proofness' or 'simplicity') where the only charging is wireless.

Re: StarLite 12.5-inch Linux tablet

#115
post #112

"0 fan design" bios: fan mode: aggressive https://us.starlabs.systems/cdn/shop/files/CFR-01x2000.png?f...

I obviously don't have one, but presumably there's a fan header that they didn't use and didn't bother to remove the reference from the bios in case someone decides to use it...somehow... for some reason.

idk, but a bios setting for fan speed isn't actually indicative of a fan.

edit: could just be a really roundabout way to increase TDP

Re: StarLite 12.5-inch Linux tablet

#116

A bit ago I did a bit of an experiment with an old surface tablet, where I threw some linux distros at it to see what the experience was. I tried Ubuntu, Manjaro, and Fedora, and all were extremely janky to downright broken. On screen keyboard was completely broken with Wayland, with some apps like Firefox just not popping it open, to others ignoring input. X had trouble with screen rotation. Fedora wouldn't let me p…

I suspect this is largely because the Microsoft Surface products contain a lot of proprietary hardware components that aren't not well supported by the kernel. KDE and friends have pretty good touch screen support, but it's all for naught if you have no drivers.

Re: StarLite 12.5-inch Linux tablet

#117

A bit ago I did a bit of an experiment with an old surface tablet, where I threw some linux distros at it to see what the experience was. I tried Ubuntu, Manjaro, and Fedora, and all were extremely janky to downright broken. On screen keyboard was completely broken with Wayland, with some apps like Firefox just not popping it open, to others ignoring input. X had trouble with screen rotation. Fedora wouldn't let me p…

Surface lineup is a weird one because Microsoft uses a non-standard firmware, but even still the support on many devices are great. I have a Surface Go 3 and despite the poor processor it flies on Fedora and I use it daily to do light tasks. Perhaps try with linux-surface kernel?

Re: StarLite 12.5-inch Linux tablet

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may be onto something, as Lenovo shut down the super-badass ultra-phone. https://www.androidauthority.com/lenovo-legion-phone-shutdow... But reciprocally, what's the new ultra-hot device? Gaming decks. Lenovo just announced theirs today. Steam, Asus, and dozen of others have amazing devices. And there are still gaming-centric phones galore. This should be an easy ask. It should be a lock. Android alas is kind of…

I wish Android and Linux would just merge. Give people access to a Linux userland that lets you install Nix packages(Most anything but Nix or similar would be a step backwards from Android's reliability during updates), and then Android could very easily be most people's only OS. If people could plug in their phone and run Linux apps on a full size monitor they'd probably pay a lot more for the phone, knowing they di…

The general population only need to run a browser on their external monitor, with Office 365 or Google Docs and Gmail. There is no need for anything else. If one is not a software developer, which Linux apps do you feel are needed?

I used Samsung DEX a few times on my tablet. The mouse plus touchscreen combination works well. The keyboard is a little worse because there is no Esc key on Android and Ctrl [ is uncomfortable.

Re: StarLite 12.5-inch Linux tablet

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it’s really a shame. I have the original iPad and the hardware remains solid. If I could have an updated browser that could display modern websites without crashing, I would still use it.

Another option is to create more progressive enhancement websites which work with such devices. Giving older devices new life is part of the reason I started developing my framework. For example, the websites linked in my profile are backwards compatible all the way to Netscape 3.0, while still supporting more modern features like in-place updating vote counters and adding dialogs to a page without reloading it. And…

Had to get regulations for wheelchair accommodations.
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